Consulting

Being the parent of a child with autism, ADHD, and other exceptionalities can be both wonderful and incredibly challenging. Sometimes it helps to have an experienced, knowledgeable guide walking beside you for a time, to help you and your child see the way forward.

Here's how I can help:

RDI (Relationship Development Intervention) is a comprehensive, family system approach that builds on your child's strengths and helps to empower parents as guides for their children with ASD and other neuro-developmental challenges. You and your child already have all the tools in place to develop a stronger connection and create the ideal learning environment for them to make progress.

My role as an RDI Consultant is to support you and your child in using the strengths you already have to develop a new style of interaction and a closer relationship. Together, we help your child to more easily access a brain-to-brain connection with you; this is the foundation of how all human beings learn.

Self-Reg is a model developed by Dr. Stuart Shanker, author of Self-Reg: How to Help Your Child (and You) Break the Stress Cycle and Successfully Engage with Life. Self-Reg brings the latest neuroscience to understanding the role that stress plays in a child's ability to self-regulate.

Parents and I work together and support children in developing an understanding of their unique self-regulation needs.

Self-Reg is a lifelong process, not a standardized curriculum or program. Instead we focus on developing understanding, identifying the stressors that affect each person differently, and responding to those stressors in a new way.

I am certified in the Shanker Method™ and am proud to be one of the first Shanker Self-Reg Learning Facilitators in British Columbia.

Collaborative and Proactive Solutions (CPS) is a model of collaborative problem-solving developed by Dr. Ross Greene, author of The Explosive Child. This approach helps parents, teachers and the challenging children they are privileged to support to build connections, defuse conflict and develop the child's problem-solving skills by finding workable, long-lasting solutions to the problems that are affecting their daily lives.

CPS assumes that "kids do well if they can" and that a child who is not doing well lacks the skills to meet the expectations their parents, teachers, and other caregivers have of them. The CPS model gives the child direct practice and experience in building those skills.

I have completed Advanced Training in CPS and can help you learn how to use this powerful, empirically supported model to solve problems collaboratively with your child.

My approach is uniquely customized to each family's needs, and may include:

Helping you to choose other supports for your child

Building bridges with school or daycare teams

Collaborating with other service providers

Life Experience underpins all of my work with my clients. No amount of training or certification can replace the years of hands-on experience that I have in raising two unique, wonderful young people with special needs; the wisdom my children have given to me is woven through everything I do.

Here's what some of my clients have had to say about their work with me:

"One of the main reasons I hired Vicki is that she sees how awesome my child is, and relishes it."

"Vicki has been instrumental in the growth and progress my kids and I have made. She truly cares deeply about her clients as people and as a family unit, which is something rare in current autism services. Being family-focused instead of child-focused allows her to serve us based on our unique family dynamic. I've also been overwhelmed by her support, and impressed by her willingness to further her own education in order to better serve her clients. I don't think my family could have learned so much or made our path as clear without her help."

"I am so grateful we found Vicki Parnell as our consultant. She clearly understands and conveys how it works through her teachings and personal experience. Vicki's added knowledge of Self-Regulation (Dr. Shanker) has been HUGE for our family. I am so appreciative that Vicki continues to learn and share hugely effective strategies and knowledge with our family. I really appreciate that we are able to daily, use the tools she gives us and see results. I could not be more happy that we called Vicki to be son's consultant!"

Please contact me to learn more about what I can offer to your family!